From drawing houses at age three to shaping the cityscape of Tampa today, Brandon Newton ’17 has turned a lifelong passion for architecture into a career that blends design, community, and history. His journey from Carrollwood Day School to Wannemacher Jensen Architects shows how early curiosity and determination can build more than structures, it can build impact.
From the time he was three years old, Brandon Newton ’17 knew he wanted to design houses. That childhood passion for drawing quickly grew into something much larger: a vision of how architecture could bring people together, preserve history, and address social issues. Today, Brandon is an Architectural Associate at Wannemacher Jensen Architects, where he’s been building his career for nearly a decade.
At CDS, Brandon’s curiosity and ambition were nurtured both in and out of the classroom. Football, basketball, track and field, and tennis gave him the balance he needed to thrive, while traditions like the eighth-grade shaving cream fight and the student vs. staff basketball tournament created lasting memories.
Brandon also credits CDS for helping him find his path in architecture. Through connections with alum parent and former board member Kim DeBosier, he shadowed Edward Hoffman, founding principal of the Hoffman Studio in Tarpon Springs. That summer internship became a pivotal learning experience, and one that lasted into his college years and gave him a strong foundation for his career. Brandon looks back on how those opportunities set him in motion.
While studying architecture and urban design at the University of South Florida, Brandon worked with the Florida Center’s research arm on projects that directly impacted the Tampa community. He contributed to initiatives like Vision Zero Palm River, which aims to eliminate traffic fatalities and severe injuries, and helped design meaningful public spaces such as Veterans Memorial Park.
Some of Brandon’s most rewarding work has involved historic preservation. One of his first projects with Wannemacher Jensen was the Woodson Museum, where he helped renovate the lobby of the historic 1940s building, originally used as segregated housing, and infuse it with African cultural elements. The project reflected both his design expertise and his long-standing passion for social issues.
Brandon’s journey has already come full circle in many ways. In high school, his IB Extended Essay analyzed the constitutionality of birthright citizenship in America, a research focus that echoed his drive to understand and influence social systems. More recently, he had the chance to inspire current CDS students at Career Day, when Prisha Shah connected with him and later shadowed him at his office, just as he once shadowed local architects during his own CDS years.
From sketching houses as a child to shaping cities as an urban designer, Brandon Newton continues to build not only structures but also community, laying the groundwork for the next generation of Patriots to dream big.
We love sharing our CDS alumni achievements and are delighted to share Brandon's updates with the alumni community. If you are a CDS Alumni and would like to share your accomplishments, please contact our Alumni Engagement Coordinator, Carli Gauthier Mianne '16 at cmianne@cdspatriots.org and let us know what you have been up to since leaving CDS. We look forward to hearing from you!